


Girl Talk

by gothicauthor



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Gen, Mentors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-20
Updated: 2013-08-20
Packaged: 2017-12-24 02:22:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/934054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gothicauthor/pseuds/gothicauthor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A little bit of friendly advice, from Ranger to Ranger.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Girl Talk

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [zsredfolder](http://zsredfolder.tumblr.com/), my jaegercon Gift Exchange recipient. I hope you like it!!

It’s Sasha who finds her, after.

Dawn is still a few hours from breaking, not that any of them would notice, here in the belly of the Shatterdome. The war clock over the hangar door ticks down every millisecond to the next attack, when two of those monsters will rise from the Breach to destroy their world, and Mako will not be in a Conn-Pod to meet them.

Even just thinking about it—sitting the next fight out in Mission Control, watching as Gipsy rides out with someone else in the suit, sharing the Drift with Raleigh Becket—twists like a knife between her ribs, right into the meat of her dreams where she curls her two-ton Gundam fingers and punches those rampaging lizards through the face and feels, at last, the grief and fury that’s been locked in her heart turn into some kind of satisfaction.

But that’s not going to happen now.

The first trial run had been disastrous. It’s hard not to hate Raleigh a little bit, even though it wasn’t something he could really control; and Stacker, too, because if she could have just one more chance to prove that she can do this, that she  _can_  handle her emotions… But as much as she hates to admit it, Chuck has a point. She’s just a rookie. Even if Raleigh’s kind enough to keep fighting in her corner, it doesn’t make her a better pilot. With only four Jaegers left standing, she understands that they can’t afford to take chances. It stings like a fresh papercut under the fingernail, but she does understand. So she will respect Stacker’s decision and, yes, obey it.

She’s so deep into her wallowing that she misses the clunking approach of combat boots entirely. When Sasha claps her on the shoulder, she almost knocks Mako off the scaffold with the combination of force and shock.

"Ranger." Mako ducks her face to hide her mortification and scoots over to give Sasha some room. She nods back, ice blonde head dipping regally as she folds herself down in one graceful movement, settling onto the walkway like it’s her own personal throne.

"I will tell you a secret," she says softly, leaning in close. "Once, in the early days, when Lyosha and I were training, we went into the Drift, and he was thinking about my breasts."

Mako laughs because she can’t help herself. “What did you do?” she asks.

"I reached out to hit him, but he hit me first, because of his long arms," Sasha says. "He was very sorry," she adds smugly, smile a bright flash in the dark.

Mako can’t help the giggles that escape her. She can only imagine how it must’ve happened: The full seven feet of Aleksis’s bulk hunched apologetically as Sasha spat blood in his face in rage. They would have been lieutenants at the time, long before they became the most respected Rangers in the Corps; the only true veterans left in active service.

The story is an unexpected kindness, especially from someone as decorated as Sasha. No one is perfect.

"The Drift," Sasha continues, the English words curling like a well-fed cat in her thick accent. "The first time, it is like a beast, no? It will take you where you do not want to go."

Mako stares down at the mesh pattern and nods.

"But you will learn, and you will try again, and you will be better."

And like that, the levity comes crashing back down into reality. “I’m not going to be a pilot,” Mako mumbles into her knees. “Not after…”

"You will fight,  _lapochka_ ,” Sasha insists. “You will see.”

She stands and claps Mako on the shoulder again. “We will stand together on the battlefield, little sister. And when the Drift comes for you again, you will ride it.” She grins, teeth white against the red twist of her perfectly drawn lips. “And next time, you ram it down the motherfucking kaiju’s throat. Understand?”

Mako laughs and nods in agreement, even though she doesn’t quite believe it.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a self-indulgent piece of headcanon for me, haha. If there was one thing that I wanted more of from _Pacific Rim_ , it was interaction between all the pilot teams, especially with levels of experience. del Toro has stated somewhere that this is a world where divisions between nations don't matter as much, and it would've been really fantastic to see that attitude from the teams themselves, bonding over gallows humor and playing drinking games like Never Have I Ever - Seen in the Drift edition. I would've really loved to see this kind of scene happen with Sasha and Mako, not just between two female pilots, but from one of the most senior pilots to the most junior.
> 
> Also, I know there's some debate about who actually is Sasha vs. Aleksis. After a lot of digging, I decided to go with [this interview](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ9Em4q0klY), where Heather Doerksen explicitly says that she played Sasha.


End file.
